North Korea fired an unconfirmed long-range ballistic missile at the sea east of its coast, South Korea and Japan reported. It was about a week following a similar incident in which a missile went off in mid-air in Pyongyang.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said that it had detected a “unidentified” projectile from North Korea. Yonhap reported that the missile was likely a long-range ballistic missile (ICBM), fired from a “lofted” direction.

The South Korean Ministry of Defense didn’t immediately confirm that the test was an ICBM test, as they have not fired at full range since 2017.

Japan’s government said that it could have been a launch of a ballistic weapon.

According to South Korea, a North Korean missile appeared to have exploded shortly after it was launched in the sky above Pyongyang on March 16. This came amid speculations that North Korea, a nuclear-armed nation, wanted to test-fire the largest yet.

South Korea and the United States have both warned North Korea that they may attempt to launch a satellite, possibly by testing an ICBM at full-range for the first times since 2017.

Pyongyang announced that components were being tested for a new reconnaissance satellite system, after several launches. Kim Jong Un announced this month that North Korea will soon launch multiple satellites for monitoring military movements by the United States of America and its allies.

Thursday’s launch will be North Korea’s 13th missile-launch attempt this year. This unprecedented frequency has drawn the ire of the United States and South Korea.